How we address tax crime

Tax crime occurs when people abuse our tax system by intentionally avoiding paying tax or claiming money they're not really entitled to. Find out what you can do to help and how we deal with this problem.

What's on this page

While most people do the right thing, those who abuse our tax system for their own financial benefit are committing a crime. Tax criminals rob honest people of services they might have had and undermine the community.

Some of the ways that businesses and individuals cheat the tax system include:

over-reporting their business expenses

doing jobs "under the table" for cash and under-reporting that income, or

not declaring their income at all.

Help us stop tax crime

There are a number of ways you can help make sure everyone pays their fair share.

Make payments electronically

Cash is legal tender and you're entitled to pay for anything in cash. However, when you pay for something in cash, it makes it easier for the recipient to hide that income.

Some people ask to be paid in cash which might be an indication they'll try to hide it.

As a customer, you can help your payment be accounted for by the recipient by:

checking your purchase amount is rung up on the till (not as cash)

asking for a receipt

asking for a tax invoice

paying with a bank card or electronically into the recipient's bank account.

Following these steps makes it much harder for the recipient to hide their income and helps to make sure the correct tax is paid on your purchase.

Reporting people who cheat

If you know of a person or business that's dodging their tax, you can report them to us anonymously. Give us as many details as you can and we'll look into it.